All Aboard the Pork Chop X-press!!

[Pork Chop]

is your xing yi option is through the tang shou tao affilates?
that lineage seems to go through xu hongji - so their xingyi would have a slightly different flavor than mine, which comes from hong yixiang(hongji's teacher) through my teacher. it would be pretty interesting to compare notes.

Yeah, the tang shou tao affiliates.
Now that you mention it, I think the xing yi I learned in Japan is directly related to these guys....
It'd be nice to start over and get the details - there was a language barrier when I was younger.

just make sure they put on some gloves and do some sparring. you really cant go wrong with xing yi that includes sparring - like all xing yi should!

yeah I have a lot of folks I plan on playing with should i pick this up.
so, whether there's scheduled play time or not, i'll have my fun.

[KTS]

tang shou tao in japan, huh? that has to be either related, or with some direction from su dong chen. and, having played with him, he is just awesome!

i have seen a long video of a tang shou tao clip from japan. it seemed like they get it on too as i think there was also video thrown in from full contact events.

yeah, do it!!! and hey, maybe u can even bring more of that practical attitude of yours. it can only help!

better keep me updated!

[Pork Chop]

Thurs 7/16
mma gym after work
more of a skills day, but we worked pretty hard
finished out the workout helping to build my coworker's game plan (he's gonna be an inside fighter)
think i threw too many kicks working with him, my hip started flaring up.

after that went to gold's
22 min jogging on an incline
tbar row - 45 x 25, 70 x 20, 90 x 15, 115 x 10
dbell bench - 55s x 20, 65s x 15, 70s x 12, 70s x 10
elliptical crosstrainer for 30min - in order to make up for wednesday, i forced myself to do an extra 600cal of cardio. felt like i was gonna die afterwards

had a hard time getting to sleep last night
probably need to cut out coffee altogether (i take it straight)
didn't go to bed until 2 or 3

just realized that the xing yi place works out 10-11 on saturday morning, judo's from 10:30~12. so if I want to do both, i'll probably have to do judo on a different day. i think they have a noob class on tuesdays; looking at their website, they don't start till 8:30 most days, 7 on thursdays.

[Pork Chop]

man totally forgot to update this.

Friday 7/17
hit gold's after work

barbell complex:
fist time through just the bar (45lbs),
20 reps clean & press, 15 overhead press, 20 squat, 15 bent row, 20 deadlift
second time through 65lbs,
15 reps clean & press, 10 overhead press, 15 squat, 10 bent row, 15 deadlift
third time through 95lbs,
10 reps clean & press, 10 squat, 10 bent row, 10 deadlift;
waited a minute and then did the overhead press - so I didn't risk cracking my skull.
Confident i can do overhead presses with 95lbs after the clean & presses by next time

4 sets med ball situps, 8 lb med ball, 10 reps a set

10 min bike, man i hate the bike
10 min walking on an incline


saturday 7/18
kinda in a hurry this day, but it was nice to get in a workout

assisted chinup & dip supersets
4 sets x 10 reps each x 14 plate (78lb) assist

20 minutes of elliptical crosstrainer



my weight's going up but i'm eating clean.
going to still keep up the weights, but will probably have to double the cardio.
hard part is that time's a big issue.

[KTS]

did u start that xingyi yet?

if you do, you may find it challenging to do the more isolated type of weightlifting with the more relaxed body skill training of xingyi.

i definitely am dowm with getting a bit ripped, but personally am into more bodyweight related exercises and and found that it takes longer to sink into the IMA frame after lifting weights.

[Pork Chop]

nah
i'm still getting used to watching my kid by myself on the weekends
i think it's gonna be hard to get a 2 month old up and going; also be a lot to ask of him to sit idly by while i train - same goes for my okinawan drumming & samisen classes on the weekends

as far as my weight lifting - as long as i stay big movements i should be fine.
i think the only thing close to isolation lifts i do are the t-bar rows and dumbbell bench.

i'm coming off a really bad week
lots of frustrations in my personal life set me back a bit
gotta get back on the horse monday

[KTS]

dude, okinawan drumming classes and samisen? nice!

u sure get into some interesting hobbies! haha. love it!

man, if only my fingers where skinny enough to hit up the piano in my spare room!

you should have learned san ti shi from before. just do that in spare time, or the footwork is even adaptpable while standing in line at grocery store.

maybe work seven star step, chicken step, taiji step, etc.

that will help get u ready before u start.

[Pork Chop]

the samisen/sanshin is to be able to play with my mother in law & her brother - she's taking lessons from him so we can all play together.

the okinawan drumming i did every weekend when i lived in dallas, even before meeting my wife. the group here isn't as big and i'm still trying to get started with it.

okinawan stuff's a lot of fun. would really like to retire there. can't wait to go back to visit again next year. my love for that place, the people, & the culture is why i was thinking about doing okinawan karate.

-----

Spent the weekend trying to figure out why i just can't get my act together lately, reflecting on where the heck my motivation & passion have gone.

The last few months, things have been very hot or cold with staying on track.
I think one thing i forgot to do on my recent "mission statement" was mention "positivity".

See, my brain don't work like it used to. My life used to be mired in negativity & to stick to training I'd just get my anger up. If i slacked off, I'd just beat myself up over it - but then I also had fewer injuries & responsibilities to worry about back then too.

These days, I've mellowed out a bit and am more happy with my life. I also have things outside of the gym that can interfere from time to time - responsibilities that are more important than what I want. Guilt doesn't work so well as a motivator anymore and anger doesn't help like it used to.

One lesson my wife's taught me (over & over) since I met her is staying positive. I've always used guilt as a motivator and the trouble with that is that it can be a slippery slope - where guilt can make a frustrating situation just that much more hopeless.

Staying positive helps you maintain your confidence. Yes, people who are overly positive & confident can delude themselves into thinking they are doing something when they're not - but being overly pessimistic prevents you from taking any joy from what you've been able to do.

I've beaten myself up over every single missed workout session the last few months. I've beaten myself up over not doing things I was not able to do - no matter how valid the reason. I've developed a very negative mindset. Like I said, it's a slippery slope of hopelessness. Kinda been stuck in a "downward spiral".

What I need to do is value what I've been able accomplish and keep moving forward. In other words, don't sweat the small stuff. Give myself an opportunity to build up to what i want to be instead of tearing myself down constantly for not living up to impossibly high expectations.

-----

New things afoot at the mma gym.
Might be able to train almost any fight sport I want there (Greco Roman, Judo, boxing, muay thai, BJJ, mma) with high level instruction at less than i've been paying. Was originally planning on just upgrading my membership there to include boxing, but the way things are looking I might be able to get the whole shebang there for cheap.

WD- if you're reading this get at me, you're basically gonna have a free gym to work out at with much nicer mats.

------

EDIT: Sorry for another long soap box session for anyone reading this, but like I've been saying - I need to change some stuff. I'm not perfect, I'm not where I want to be, and I'm sure as heck not where some want me to be; but I'm trying to improve. It's a process that's almost as much mental as it is physical.

I've had a lot of set backs but I want to keep things moving forward & staying positive.
So I'm going to work on keeping my mindset more positive and that might mean ignoring the poster who likes to run his mouth off when he posts to this blog - i just don't have time for the negativity.

[Pork Chop]

Mon 7/27
1.5 hours of boxing class
16 min on treadmill, walking at steep incline
3 supersets of 5 assisted chinups (52lb assist), 5 assisted dips (52lbs)

after that i called it a night
i was tired
good start though

[KTS]

straight boxing class? cool. must gt in the xingyi then! they will help eachother to a degree.

anyways, my daily regimine varies quite a bit. so i can see why u have a whole thread on it.

lately, i've worked more on control(super slow movement, sometimes with resistence) and lower basin stuff(think leg building lower squatting level movement).

and from last week onwards, i will be focusing on one qigong exercise per week for 12 weeks(thus 12 form qigong). good stuff.

PC, do they have anything in MT like qigong? i have picked up some kickboxing, but not too knowlegdeable about some of the less obvious MT practices.

[Pork Chop]

The closest thing they have in MT to qigong is the Ram Muay/Wai Kru. Everything is supposed to be done slowly, breathing timed with the movements, movements timed with the music.

was supposed to work out with a dude who's in from dc tonight but he had a work dinner to go to so we're gonna try to hit it tomorrow

Tuesday 7/28
hit gold's after work, before finding out my friend couldn't make it

barbell complex -
95lbs: 10 x clean & press, 10 overhead press, 10 squat, 10 bent row, 10 deadlift
65lbs: 15 x clean & press, 15 overhead press, 15 squat, 15 bent row, 15 deadlift
45lbs: 20 overhead press, 20 squat, 20 bent row, 20 clean & press, 20 deadlift

jumped on the elliptical for 30 min
i don't care if the elliptical messes up my hip, it's still my favorite cardio and it's not like my hip's getting any better when i'm not doing it.

may have to stretch more.

[KTS]

gotta let me know how that goes. he a thai boxer? mma? cma?

anytime ur in the Mil, i'd be happy to oblige in a little fun light sparring. i gotta get on to buying some new gear though.

any open finger fighting gloves u found to be sturdy and of quality? i have usually just borrowed someone elses.

[Pork Chop]

he's muay thai

open finger gloves?
I don't really like most mma gloves
the blue csi gloves and the title mma safety gloves are okay
but i think most mma gloves expose too much of the middle knuckles (the ones you use for panther/ginger/phoenix eye fist).

[Pork Chop]

Thursday 7/30

gold's at lunch
t-bar row - 45lbs on the bar x5, 70x5, 90x5, 115x5, 135x5
dumbbell bench - 55pounders x5, 65s x5, 70s x5, 75s x5, 80s x 5
didn't have much time for cardio, so i did lunges for 3 laps back and forth across the cardio room with around 45lbs - made me sweat, made my legs burn, and my heart race

after work i picked up my friend and we finally worked out
went to the muay thai gym and put in a pretty good 1.5 hour workout.
kinda lit the fire to start working out there again
did some stretches and hip pain was minimal.

[Pork Chop]

friday 7/31
really sore on friday, especially my legs
just went to gold's
22 min on treadmill, walking, steep incline
medicine ball situps on the decline chair - 3 sets of 20 with a 10lb med ball
20 min on elliptical x-trainer on a high setting

came home to a pulled back muscle (the one that goes between the shoulder blade & spine)